Exploring East Tennessee: Tsali Notch Vineyard

 

After visiting Grain Bin Commodities, we drove just a few miles to Tsali Notch Vineyard in Madisonville, TN. They are only 2 exits away from each other. The Lost Sea Adventure is very close to the vineyards and would be another good stop. 

Tsali Notch Vineyard is a Muscadine Vineyard but if you're a dry, red wine person, don't let that deter you from visiting. I was skeptical because I don't particularly like sweet wines but during the taste testing I was pleasantly surprised. They have wine for any taste. I was especially surprised by the Rose, so much so that I ended up buying a bottle.

The Tasting Room

Why Tsali?

Tsali was a Cherokee Indian Chief who refused to leave his NC home after they ceded their lands to the US Government. There is folklore and then history as to what happened to Tsali: legend says that he surrendered to the US Infantry Division but documents indicate he did not. The result is the same: Tsali was killed by another Cherokee, one of his neighbors. Euchella hunted down Tsali and killed him so that he could stay in the area, as promised by the US Government. If you've ever heard of the outdoor drama Unto These Hills, you would know the story which is about Tsali. The play has been open for over 60 years in Cherokee, NC.

Back to the Vineyard!

With over 6000 vines, Tsali Vineyards covers 35 acres. With the Appalachian Mountains as its backdrop, the scenery is absolutely gorgeous. It's quiet, with the wind blowing around the valley as its only sound. There is a Tasting Room where you can test 4 of the wines plus the juice (which is only juice...no sweeteners added) for $10. You also receive the small glass you used for the testing. The wines included when I tested were Chatsworth (dry red), French Broad (Rose), Atala (sparkling wine similar to Prosecco), and Tallulah (dessert wine similar to a Port). I ended up buying a Chatsworth, French Broad, and a bottle of juice (for CH). There is plenty of seating around the Tasting Room to take a bottle of wine and enjoy the view.

There's more to the Vineyard than just Vines

Also on the property is an event barn. When we drove in, JD was prepping for an event. We were parked on the other side of the Tasting Room (up the hill from the barn) so we didn't get in their way or vice versa. Since we were using our Harvest Hosts Membership, we spent the rainy afternoon hanging out in Maeve Anne. It was incredibly peaceful.

View from the side window during the rain

Clouds hanging over the vineyards after the rain

View from the front during the rain

Honestly, I had no idea there were places like this within an hour from my house. There's so much to explore in this area. 

Have you heard about Harvest Hosts? It's an RV camping membership that has opened up exciting and new overnight experiences for my road trips! Use it to unlock unlimited overnight stays at locations such as farms, wineries, museums and so much more. The network has over 4000 locations and is expanding daily - and it's so much fun! I think that you'd really enjoy it. Here is the link to join with a special discount: ​Flyin' the Coop Harvest Hosts Invitation. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Exploring East Tennessee: Grain Bin Commodities

Wow. It's been a "hot minute" since I've written one of these posts...2 years (almost to the day) to be exact. I hope to be writing more of these in the near future.

CH & I used our Harvest Hosts membership to stay the night in Maeve Anne at a unique place. Grain Bin Commodities is a bakery in the middle of a farm in Sweetwater, TN. It was just a hop, skip, and jump off of I75. 

Entrance to Grain Bin Commodities

Callie & Craig are a super sweet couple who own the business. Callie started the bakery with her mom in their home, and after the spare bedrooms were used for packaging and storing Craig decided he wanted his home back. They began building but he wasn't happy with the contractor. He fired him and found another one who had the building up in no time. And then COVID hit. Amidst that chaos, they continued to build on to what was already on the farm to add to the charm. 

The Bakery

What they have now is simply amazing. There is the bakery, but there is also a patio with beautiful scenery in the background, a barn for private events, and an outdoor fireplace for those chilly fall/spring East TN nights. 

The Event Barn

The Patio

How relaxing would it be to sit here and look out at the East TN Countryside?

The view!

Outdoor fireplace

They paid very close attention to every little detail. You can even see it in their bathrooms. 

Details!

The bakery is "farm to table". Craig said they are going to try to grow their own grain so it will everything will truly be from the farm.  We went in right at opening time on a Saturday morning, and things were really bustling. Carrot cake muffins were just coming out of the oven right before we left. They have an amazing array of baked goods, from country ham and cheese bite-sized muffins to cupcakes. It was really hard not buying at least one of everything.

Coffee Cake Donut and Cream Cheese Roll

Scone, country ham & cheese muffins, sausage balls

This is definitely a place I'd go back to. It's only about an hour from my house so it could easily be done without spending the night. If you're traveling between Chattanooga and Knoxville, it would be a wonderful detour to stretch your legs and buy some baked goods. And, if you're a member of Harvest Hosts and need a place to stay for the night, this is worth a stay.

They are working on building a few small "cabins" that look quite nice. So, if you don't have an RV or aren't self-contained, this is also a possibility.

View of the field across the street. The camping spots are below the camper in the picture.

Have you heard about Harvest Hosts? It's an RV camping membership that has opened up exciting and new overnight experiences for my road trips! Use it to unlock unlimited overnight stays at locations such as farms, wineries, museums and so much more. The network has over 4000 locations and is expanding daily - and it's so much fun! I think that you'd really enjoy it. Here is the link to join with a special discount: ​Flyin' the Coop Harvest Hosts Invitation. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Exploring East Tennessee: Norris Dam

 It's been a while since I've written a post about places in East Tennessee that are "off the beaten path", mostly because we haven't been anywhere. Mid- to late- May is a good time to go camping: it's not too hot & humid yet and the nights are still cool. The problem we have is that we usually decide at the last minute to go, and with COVID, camping sites are hard to come by. I looked at our usual campgrounds but every place was full at the beginning of the week. There was a campground in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that we hadn't been to but there is no electricity at National Park Campgrounds (at least around here). My next step was to look for state parks around us. I found Norris Dam State Park, which is just north of Knoxville. At the beginning of the week, there were plenty of spots available. So that made me a little nervous. I figured it was either going to be a hidden gem or a really crappy campground. I'm not going to get into our campsite or the campground here. If you're interested, visit Flyin' the Coop.

CH said it is just unbelievable that I grew up about an hour away from this state park and had never been. If I've been, I don't remember it. The State Park itself has some cool history: Norris Dam was the first dam built through FDR's New Deal. It was built by the CCC. 

Parts of the CCC camp are still standing and in use by the Tennessee State Park System. The cabins are available for rent. 

The "Tea Room" is available as a venue for weddings or other events. The day we were there, people were setting up for a wedding reception.

We also visited a grist mill and saw the threshing barn. The mill was a little cool.

The inside of the mill.

There were several millstones in the sidewalk.

Call me crazy, but if you've seen 1 threshing barn, you've seen them all! 

Just up the hill from the mill, there is a small museum. It had some pretty cool things in it.

Can you imagine walking around in these all day? No wonder the ladies in old photographs aren't smiling!

Just around the dam area, there is an "Orchard Trail". I'm not real sure that's what it's called, but there are trails winding through different orchards. There are signs designating what orchard you're in.

But the best part of the day was lunch. Between the dam and the grist mill there is a little microbrewery called Clinch River Brewing. We almost missed it.

The menu is rather small, but with a Louisiana flair. The young lady we spoke with said that a couple owned it, and he was from Louisiana. It's crazy how we unknowingly keep running into people with a LA connection. (Just in case you forgot/didn't know, MS lives in Louisiana.)

The beverage was really tasty, and the food was pretty good:

The atmosphere wasn't bad, either. There were rainbow trout swimming in the pond.

The obligatory selfie:

We thought the area was pretty nice. I don't know if we'll go back (been there, done that), unless it's to go to the Museum of Appalachia, which is just around the corner from the little museum we visited. If you're looking for a little piece of history (and need a little something to eat or drink!) then this is the spot.

Coming to East Tennessee for a visit and looking for some "off the beaten path" places to explore? You'll want to check out the posts in my Exploring East Tennessee series. Oh, and check back from time to time...we'll do more exploring (which means more posts!).